MORE: 10 things you need to know about the Minnesota loss | GoldandBlack.com Blog | Gold and Black Radio Express | Final Thoughts | The 3-2-1 | Gallery | Upon further review

PDF: Purdue-Minnesota stats

Time to hand out grades after Purdue's 38-31 loss to Minnesota.

Considering Purdue had to switch quarterbacks abruptly on the third series of the game after quarterback Elijah Sindelar got hurt after completing 4-of-8 passes for 46 yards, the aerial attack did OK. Redshirt freshman Jack Plummer came on and hit 23-of-41 passes for 245 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He showed poise after making his college debut in the Boilermakers’ last game with Sindelar out with a concussion. Also, dynamic wideout Rondale Moore left the game with injury on the same play as Sindelar. And tight end Brycen Hopkins didn’t catch a pass (Jeff Brohm mentioned in his post-game presser that a tight end was throwing up.) No tight end caught a pass. Still, Plummer pumped some air in the pass game. Hat's off to redshirt freshman wideout Amad Anderson, Jr., who continues to play hard and contribute.

Grade: B

Finally. Life. Jeff Brohm said in the postgame that the staff schemed some things up to augment what had been statistically the second-worst run game in the nation entering the game. It worked. The Boilermakers ran 33 times for 123 yards—both season-highs. True freshman King Doerue got his first career start. And, he showed promise with 94 yards rushing on 20 totes with two scores. He ran hard and with a purpose. Purdue may have something. And Jack Plummer showed off his wheels with 29 yards on the ground, second most on the squad. His 18-yard scamper in the second half is the longest run of the season for Purdue. Plummer is a nifty athlete despite being 6-5, 220.

Grade: B

The final numbers look nice: 414 yards of offense. And there was balance, with the Boilermakers rushing for 123 yards and passing for 291. Plummer looks like he’s growing up. And that’s good, because Sindelar may be out a while. Speaking of growing up, true freshman wideout David Bell did just that with a breakout performance. Bell notched the first of what could be many 100-yard receiving games of his career, finishing with 114 yards on eight catches. But the tight ends were MIA. And that hurt big-time. The line? Well, it's a work in progress ... and will be all season. Still, Purdue had to be pleased with how the offense roared back to make it a one-possession game with over four minutes to play, chipping away from a 38-17 deficit to make it 38-31. But, the Boilers could get no closer.

Grade: B

Hide the women and children! This was X-rated. All day long, Golden Gophers were scampering unfettered through the Boilermaker secondary. How bad was Purdue’s pass defense? Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan hit 21-of-22 passes for 396 yards. That comes to a whopping 18.0 yards per attempt, a staggering number. It’s also the best completion percentage (95.5) in a game in Big Ten history (minimum 20 attempts). Jeff Brohm couldn’t hide his disappointment in the postseason, even pointing out that Minnesota isn’t a passing team. Yet, the Gophers still sliced up Purdue’s defense through the air. Things got so bad early on for sophomore cornerback Kenneth Major that he got pulled for missed assignments, getting replaced by redshirt freshman Cory Trice. Major never returned.

Grade: F-

There were pregame worries about a massive Gopher offensive line wearing down the Boilermaker front. But, that never came to pass, partly because Minnesota found it so easy to move the ball through the air. The Gophers tallied just 92 yards on the ground on 34 carries, averaging only 2.7 yards per carry with a long of 17. But Rodney Smith was tough to stop. He finished with 115 yards rushing on 22 carries with a TD.

Grade: B+

The Kleenex-thin pass defense drags this grade way down, cancelling out any good work done vs. the run. In fact, the defense’s inability to slow down what entering the game had been a pedestrian Minnesota offense is the why Purdue lost this game. Minnesota entered the day No. 12 in the Big Ten in total offense (356.7 ypg), No. 11 in rushing (123.7 ypg) and No. 9 in passing (233.0 ypg). Minnesota finished with 488 yards (92 rush, 396 pass). And the Gophers did all of this damage with just 56 plays, averaging 8.7 yards per play. (Purdue ran 82 plays and still was out gained, finishing with 414 yards, 5.0 yards per play.) Remember: This was a Minnesota team that needed a TD with less than six minutes left to beat South Dakota State, needed double-OT to topple Fresno State and needed a TD with 13 second left to beat mighty Georgia Southern. Purdue fell into a 28-10 half-time hole … and never was able to crawl out. Oh, and once again, the defense failed to generate a turnover. Purdue and its zone defense were flummoxed time and again by Minnesota's slant pass off the RPO. When coverages weren't being blown, Purdue defenders were taking poor angles. This was a burn-the-game-tape effort.

Grade: D

The kicking was very good. True freshman punter Brooks Cormier showed off a booming leg, averaging 45.4 yards on five punts with a long of 69 yards and two inside the 20-yard line. KIcker J.D. Dellinger was money on his lone field-goal attempt (21 yards) and all five kickoffs were touchbacks. He also executed a nice on-sides kick late in the game that Purdue recovered. But the return game continues to be a liability. Return men make poor decisions too often. Bottom line: The return game has been a colossal disappointment despite so much time being devoted to augmenting it in the offseason.

Grade: C+

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2019. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.